UUP’s Smith happy with McCall

Add United University Professions President Philip Smith to the list of people praising H. Carl McCall’s elevation to lead SUNY’s board of trustees.

“I’m excited about it,” he told the Times Union.

UUP is the union representing faculty across SUNY’s 64 campuses, and Smith said it work with McCall and PSC-CUNY, its sister union at the New York City campus as part of the Public Higher Education Conference Board.

McCall and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have both spoke of SUNY as an “economic engine,” which I’ve heard from some professors rubs against their traditional academic ideals. I asked Smith about this, and he said the union was “in total agreement” with Cuomo.

“However, I do think we have to be careful about how far we stretch that phrase,” he said. “If we’re talking bout engaging in public-private-partnerships where SUNY is not a full partner and isn’t a full recipient of the partnership, we have to be very cautious and very reserved about that.”

“That’s where the danger lies. The land is not owned by the university, or the campus, it’s owned by the citizens of New York State, and it’s there specifically for academic purposes, and to use land that could be used for a field house, a stadium, a dormitory or a classroom would be a shame to have used for a strip mall or a hotel.”